Smart phones and other mobile devices are quickly replacing more traditional computers for many tasks, such as web browsing, watching video content, and playing games. In fact, the typical smart phone is already more powerful than computers of only a handful of years ago. Although smart phones can perform many of the tasks of traditional computers, smart phones still faces a number of limitations. For example, because smart phones are smaller than traditional computers and laptops, smart phones have a smaller keyboard and a smaller display.
One way to compensate for the small display on a smart phone or other mobile device is to wirelessly mirror the smart phone's display on a larger display. However, due to the nature of current wireless display technology, the smart phone has to continuously transmit information to the wireless display, which drains the battery of the smart phone quickly. For example, a Wi-Fi transmitter on a smart phone, if in use continuously, can account for one-third, or more, of the total power consumption of the smart phone.
Therefore, there exists ample opportunity for improvement in technologies related to energy efficient wireless display.